For people with schizophrenia hospitalized after a psychotic episode, getting a long-acting antipsychotic injection works far better than pills to keep them from returning to hospital care. That’s the finding of a new study from researchers at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. They found that injected antipsychotic meds — which provide continuous treatment from two weeks up to six months — were 75% more effective in reducing rehospitalization, compared to the same meds in pill form. “I suspect the lower readmission rate that has been observed with long-acting injections has more to do with people forgetting to take a pill each and every day than with any inherent superiority of the injectable medication,” noted study lead author Dr. Daniel Greer, a clinical assistant professor at the Rutgers Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy. The findings were published recently in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology. As Greer’s team noted, expert guidance already recommends that people with schizophrenia receive long-acting antipsychotics by injection upon discharge from a hospital, rather than pills. But many patients, whether due to needle fears or cost issues, may still opt for pills. That’s a real problem, Greer said, because “other studies on the use of antipsychotic medication have found that roughly three-fourths of patients do not take oral medications exactly as directed.” Conversely, “it’s much easier to get a shot every few…  read on >  read on >

Older adults frequently delay needed surgery because of financial concerns, a new study finds. Nearly half of people ages 50 and older who were very concerned about the cost of surgery wound up not having an operation they had considered, researchers reported Jan. 30 in the journal JAMA Network Open. Further, more than half who were very concerned about taking time off work wound up dropping plans for surgery, results show. “When I counsel patients in my clinic who are considering elective surgery, I now also spend a good deal of time discussing the financial and employment implications of surgery with them,” said researcher Dr. Nicholas Berlin, a surgical fellow with the University of Michigan Medical School. “Unfortunately, I have seen a number of insured patients forego needed surgery because they are unable to afford the out-of-pocket costs or take time away from work for recovery,” Berlin added in a university news release. For the study, Berlin and his colleagues analyzed data from the National Poll on Healthy Aging, which showed in 2022 that nearly half of older adults considering surgery had concerns about costs, work time lost or COVID risk. About two-thirds who said they were very concerned about COVID exposure during surgery or recovery wound up not having an operation they had considered, researchers found. On the other hand, few patients dropped plans…  read on >  read on >

New research is helping confirm smoking as a risk factor for the devastating brain illness amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). ALS affects roughly 31,000 Americans each year, with about 5,000 new cases diagnosed annually, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s a progressive, fatal illness that causes nerves cells controlling muscles to slowly die, leading to weakness and paralysis. The causes of ALS are unknown, and even risk factors for the disease remain unclear. In their new research, a team from South Korea looked at the data from 32 different studies for possible links between smoking and ALS. They found that people who had smoked had a 12% higher odds of developing ALS compared to those who hadn’t, with risks rising even higher if the person was a current smoker. “One of our most pivotal findings was the dose-response analysis, revealing an inverted U-shaped curve,” said study lead author Dr. Yun Hak Kim, of the department of biomedical informatics at Pusan National University in Busan, Korea. According to Kim, a U-shaped curve means that the “risk associated with smoking isn’t a linear progression.” “Instead, it peaks and then starts to decrease or plateau, suggesting that the risk of ALS is influenced by the intensity of smoking,” he said in a university news release. Gender seemed to play a role as well. The…  read on >  read on >

Deaths related to ozone air pollution will rise significantly around the world during the next two decades due to climate change, a new study warns. Cities in North America, Europe, Asia, Australia and Africa can expect to see ozone-related deaths increase by as many as 6,200 fatalities a year by 2054 unless humans rein in global warming, researchers project. “This paper is further evidence of the health benefits that can be achieved if more countries adhered to the Paris Climate Agreement’s goals,” said senior researcher Kai Chen, an assistant professor of public health at the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Conn. In the study, researchers analyzed short-term exposure to ground-level ozone pollution and daily deaths in 406 cities across 20 countries and regions. They used four specific climate change scenarios to predict future death rates due to air pollution. Ozone is the primary component of smog, and it has been linked to respiratory problems, heart disease and premature death, researchers said in background notes. Ozone forms when pollutants emitted by cars, power plants and industry chemically react in the presence of sunlight. Ozone is most likely to reach unhealthy levels on hot, sunny days in cities, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Researchers estimated that ozone-related deaths will claim as many as 6,200 lives a year in those cities by 2050-2054,…  read on >  read on >